Trump rewards personal lawyers with justice department posts
They fought the law on behalf of Donald Trump. Now, they are poised to help him enforce it.
On Thursday, Trump announced the selection of key members for his defense team to fill senior roles at the Justice Department. Todd Blanche, who represented Trump in several criminal cases, is set to be nominated for deputy attorney general, the second-highest position in the department. Emil Bove, an attorney in Trump’s New York hush-money case, will also take on a prominent role within the department.
D John Sauer, who successfully defended Trump in the historic presidential immunity case before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year, will be nominated for U.S. solicitor general.
If confirmed, they would report to Trump’s choice for U.S. attorney general, Matt Gaetz, a staunch Trump supporter and conservative.
Although Trump’s attorneys bring more traditional legal experience than Gaetz, his intentions to reshape the department and target “the enemy within,” combined with these nominations, have raised concerns among legal experts about the future of the Justice Department.
“This sends a clear message that he is steering the department toward loyalty to him, rather than maintaining its traditional independence,” said Rebecca Roiphe, a professor at New York Law School.
The three lawyers have demonstrated creative and steadfast advocacy for Trump, particularly as he faced four separate criminal indictments last year.
Trump announced that Mr Blanche would set about “fixing what has been a broken System of Justice for far too long.”
Both Mr Blanche and Mr Bove have previous justice department experience, passing through what is arguably its most prestigious jurisdiction: the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
Mr Blanche rose to head violent crimes at the SDNY before heading to prestigious law firm WilmerHale then struck out on his own – only to take on America’s highest-profile criminal defendant.
“They certainly have relevant experience, certainly prosecutorial experience,” said Jonathan Nash, an Emory School of Law professor.
Mr Blanche, he added, would have managerial experience from his time at the SDNY, an asset to a deputy attorney general.
Mr Blanche adopted some of Trump’s bombastic posturing during the New York criminal trial earlier this year, openly attacking witnesses’ character and repeatedly sparring with the judge. Some experts believe these tactics may have contributed to Trump’s loss.
But in a few days, Mr Blanche could secure his biggest victory yet: overturning the sole criminal conviction against Trump in his hush-money trial. He and Mr Bove have argued that Trump’s conviction in New York should be overturned.
As US solicitor general, Mr Sauer would represent the government in Supreme Court cases. He previously held the solicitor general position in Missouri, and legal experts said that makes him an unsurprising choice.
Mr Sauer already secured one major win for Trump before the nation’s highest court as Trump sought to stymie federal prosecution of his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Mr Sauer successfully argued to the Supreme Court that presidents should have immunity from criminal prosecution for certain “official acts” while in office.
More recently, Mr Sauer argued to a New York appeals court that Trump’s nine-figure fine in a civil fraud trial should be overturned. The court has yet to issue a decision.
It is not unheard of for US presidents to appoint close legal allies to the justice department and other judicial posts.
President John F Kennedy made his brother, Robert F Kennedy, US attorney general in the 1960s. President Lyndon B Johnson chose his former attorney Abe Fortas for the Supreme Court.
Since the Watergate era, however, the justice department has sought to position itself as mostly independent from the president.
But Trump tested that norm. During his first term, he fired one attorney general, Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The second, William Barr, resigned after pushing back against Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
